The Black Windmill (1974) - Coming from Kino

[gates70]

From the Kino thread....

Originally Posted by Kino Lorber Insider

Coming December 4th!
First Time on DVD and Blu-ray!

The Black Windmill (1974) with optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Filmmaker and Historian Mike Siegel
• Interview with Cinematographer Ousama Rawi
• 6 Radio Spots
• Animated Image Gallery
• Reversible Art
• Theatrical Trailer

(1974) Color 106 Minutes 2.35:1 Rated PG
Screen legend Michael Caine (The Wilby Conspiracy, The Holcroft Covenant, The Whistle Blower) is a British secret agent targeted for death by friend and foe alike in this riveting tale of mystery and suspense directed by the great Don Siegel (Dirty Harry, Charley Varrick, Madigan). This breathless story of international intrigue finds a determined Caine taking up the revenge trail when ruthless gunrunners kidnap his young son and demand a king’s ransom in uncut diamonds for the boy’s release. With each new lead Caine’s chilling quest becomes increasingly deadly as he begins to suspect that one of his colleagues is in league with the merciless abductors. Donald Pleasence (Halloween), Clive Revill (Avanti!), John Vernon (The Outlaw Josey Wales), Joss Ackland (White Mischief) and Catherine Schell (The Return of the Pink Panther) are among those involved in the spine-tingling, high voltage chase that ends at the infamous Black Windmill. One of the many highlights of The Black Windmill is the rousing score by composer extraordinaire Roy Budd (Get Carter, Kidnapped).

Attachment 209333

[robocopfan]

Have not seen this one but it seems good, caine siegel what can go wrong?

[Wtdk]

Originally Posted by robocopfan

Have not seen this one but it seems good, caine siegel what can go wrong?

A decent script, nice direction from Siegel, nice casting but not the classic that it promised to be.

[John Earls Umbrella]

Originally Posted by Wtdk

A decent script, nice direction from Siegel, nice casting but not the classic that it promised to be.

I agree. Considering the talents involved, a bit of a let down. Great score by Roy Budd and anything from that era with Michael Caine and John Vernon is worth watching.

[gates70]

Any more thoughts from people who saw this movie? Might be a blind buy.

[Aclea]

The Black Windmill has a workable premise, an unspectacularly decent cast (Delphine Seyrig, Donald Pleasance, Janet Suzman, Clive Revill, Dennis Quilley, Edward Hardwicke and Joss Ackland among them) and a good director in Don Siegel, but it never catches fire. Michael Caine, playing a very different spy to Harry Palmer - more of a middle class career army officer who never needed to be blackmailed into the job - finds himself being set up by the vicious kidnappers of his young son to steal some diamonds intended for some dubious operation, eventually finding himself having to avoid his employers, the French and British police and take out the very bad guys (hey, it is John Vernon). All of which sounds at least more energetic than the film actually is.

It moves along with competence, dotting the 'i's and crossing the 't's, but even though a surprising amount happens in the last half hour, it never seems to develop any tension or urgency. Along the way there's a nice Sean Connery joke and a neat scene that manages to reference both The sound of Music and Caine's own Battle of Britain, but the good Scope composition and the typical 70s Roy Budd score make more of an impression than anything else in the film.

[gates70]

Originally Posted by Aclea

The Black Windmill has a workable premise, an unspectacularly decent cast (Delphine Seyrig, Donald Pleasance, Janet Suzman, Clive Revill, Dennis Quilley, Edward Hardwicke and Joss Ackland among them) and a good director in Don Siegel, but it never catches fire. Michael Caine, playing a very different spy to Harry Palmer - more of a middle class career army officer who never needed to be blackmailed into the job - finds himself being set up by the vicious kidnappers of his young son to steal some diamonds intended for some dubious operation, eventually finding himself having to avoid his employers, the French and British police and take out the very bad guys (hey, it is John Vernon). All of which sounds at least more energetic than the film actually is.

It moves along with competence, dotting the 'i's and crossing the 't's, but even though a surprising amount happens in the last half hour, it never seems to develop any tension or urgency. Along the way there's a nice Sean Connery joke and a neat scene that manages to reference both The sound of Music and Caine's own Battle of Britain, but the good Scope composition and the typical 70s Roy Budd score make more of an impression than anything else in the film.

Thank you!

[Dan_Shane]

That is probably the fairest and most accurate assessment of the THE BLACK WINDMILL I have ever read. My approach would be that if a buyer needs to add something to their shopping cart to get free shipping they could do far worse than this movie, but a first day blind buy might disappoint.

It's definitely on my want list, but not near the top.

[DukeTogo84]

Watched this for the first time today. Thought it was pretty good.

[John Earls Umbrella]

Mine is on it's way. Fingers crossed for decent image quality.

[John Earls Umbrella]

I can confirm this is a pretty good transfer.

[StingingVelvet]

Just watched this. It looks pretty good for most of its run time. There are a small handful of moments where it looks more worn and transitions can look rough, but it has nice detail and color and looks pretty crisp. Nowhere near a modern remaster of course but okay for an oldie. Sadly the climax is one of the worst looking parts for whatever reason, but it's solid overall.

Movie is... alright. I'm a big spy genre fan but haven't seen a lot of pre-80s stuff other than Bond and Hitchcock, so I'm giving stuff like this a shot on blu. This one is pretty slow and methodical (on purpose) without a lot of excitement or even style, which is odd coming from the guy who made Dirty Harry. It's nowhere near as boring and vacant as something like The Deadly Affair though. It has some nice action scenes and a consistent tenseness. Caine is playing someone emotionless, so there's not much happening there. It's a clusterf**k of intentional blandness in other words but when it works it works well.

[laidbacklarkin]

Just how many films has Caine been in ?

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by laidbacklarkin

Just how many films has Caine been in ?

just click on imdb........... he has an enormous resume!!!

[sandboxgamer]

Was excited to watch this film after recently picking it up during a kino sale. A crime film directed by renowned action director Don Siegel and staring Michael Caine what could go wrong? Well pretty much everything. This is a very dull meandering film with no action until the last few minutes. As far as the kino blu ray picture quality is good, very clean transfer, and audio is good.